KnifeMissile

I am taking a defensive driving course and I am appalled at the attitudes the other students display in the course. It is simply terrible.

I am taking a driving course from Young Drivers and I must say that it is an excellent course. It's very expensive but it is filled with very good advice and all of it makes sense! Because of this, I don't understand the incredulity the other students show in the course. Many of them simply don't "get it" and complain about how they don't have to follow the advice because they're not idiots, despite the fact that the techniques are to defend yourself from other drivers and not yourself. They also don't believe the scenarios or advice are realistic or help the situation at all.

Now, in and of itself, this would not bother me. However, they have started to allow these attitudes to come through during the lecture. It is very distracting to me, especially considering how ignorant their remarks are. They inflame me to the point where I have trouble concentrating on the class, myself, which is tragic because I find the class fascinating and valuable. The problem is compounded by the irony of them choosing to take this defensive driving course for three times the price of a regular driving course. I seriously considered taking the trouble makers aside, after class, and explaining all this to them but, like reacting to flamebait on a forum, this would likely be futile.

To add to my aggravation, this sudden change of attitude only happened after some of the students were chatting with each other during a break (the course is done in three hour classes) and discovered that they shared feelings of incredulity at the course material. What does that say?

There is so much I can go into about the course itself, so you can judge its quality yourself, but if I ever post about that I will save it for another thread because I prefer to keep thread topics somewhat specific.

At the risk of tainting your response (have you ever read a post that refered to you, directly?), I will mention the interesting fact that everyone who complains about this course is under 20, while no one over this age has complained. What does that say?

Why are their so many people like this?

dirtyrascal7

why do you think that people under 21 pay significantly more for car insurance? because they have such disrespectful and unconcerning attitudes. probably the only reason they are in that class is to get a discount on car insurance.

the only advice i have is to talk to the instructor and see if they can do something.

Nisses

And also, the only reason they act like they act, is because they found out they weren't the only ones thinking like this, so they knew if they spoke out, others would reactly in the same manner.

Basically just a herdmentality, again.

That's why there are so many of them, because they find eachother, and drag eachother along

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Blackthorn

How ironic for me that this post shows up here this morning. On my way into work just this morning in the blink of an eye I was turned completely sideways in the middle of I-75. Traffic ahead of me for no apparent reason just came to a screeching halt. I was fortunately following at a safe distance and boy was I even more fortunate that there were no cars to the right of me (I was in the left most lane). I ended up locking the brakes and turning sideways while sliding across two lanes of the expressway. It happens....stupid shit happens when you are driving three thousand pound vehicles. I was very lucky this stupid shit this morning didn't result in an accident.

Now I have to run along to Wal-Mart.....I need a FRESH pair of undies.

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Key

what's the proportion of ages in the class? it's probably bugging the crap out of everyone else too.

i'd talk to the instructor and tell him how strongly you feel about it, along with how you're not getting the quality information you're paying for because of morons like those. you'd be doing the rest of the class a favor.

unless you went absolutely ballistic on the kids i doubt they'd react. i keep picturing a movie theater where a couple kids are messing it up for everyone, when finally some guy in the row in front of them stands up and threatens them with various disembowlings and large object enemas - to the applause of the theater.

Rubyee

I was in a lot of classes like this in college. The instructor was a pushover, so any lecture could be turned around on him, from him teaching to students complaining and asking the most moranic questions for the wasting of time.

I finally got sick of it one day and yelled (litterally, and I am still a little embarassed about it) "If you don't want to be here, than quit paying for it and get the hell out. Otherwise SHUT UP!"

Needless to say it had worked for about a week, and successfully got myself turned into the class outcast (which I preferred to anything else).

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yournamehere

Is this course taken on a totally volunteer basis? Insurance companies and courts sometimes require completion of these courses in order to either reduce rates or avoid a fine. Perhaps the fact that many of these kids are forced to be there affects their attitude.

That, or it's just that many people under 20 think the're too cool for just about anything mainstream. Like the <i>The Wild One</i> clip that was shown everywhere right after Brando's death:
"What're you rebelling against, Johnny?"
"What've you got?"
/paraphrased.

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irseg

Yep. I very highly doubt they'd have that attitude if they were taking the course voluntarily. I'd be pissed off if I was forced to take some bullshit course that tells me to follow at least 2 seconds behind other cars, look in my mirrors, etc, etc, etc too. But I'd at least be polite enough to not disrupt the class over it.

Perhaps you should talk to the instructor and explain that you opted to take the course and pay more money for it, and that you feel entitled to a better classroom environment. Get him to pull the troublemakers aside and talk with them.

I was in a similar situation recently with a basic motorcycle class. About half the class already knew how to ride but was there to get a motorcycle license. Only one guy was really a dick though, he had to make it abundantly clear to everybody that he wasn't really supposed to be there, and that he was god's gift to motorcycles. It was funny though, because he'd try to go through the riding exercises too fast to show off, and end up doing them worse than those of us who had never touched a bike before.

DelayedReaction

What really annoys me is that the same attitude they display in the classroom will be the attitude they display in the car. Look forward to seeing them behind the wheel of a Ford Goliath SUV as they tailgate you and talk on the cellphone at the same time.

Attitude is everything when it comes to driving. For me, that attitude means always keeping an eye on the road, and never letting your attention wander from looking at potential threats. That doesn't necessarily mean I always do it (especially when I'm tired or I have something on my mind), but I do my best.

I wonder how these people are going to react in a panic situation?

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ARTelevision

one more reason I changed careers after teaching for too long.
yes, absolutely there's a totally counterproductive and worse mentality rampant in many classes of "students".

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Yakk

There is a reason to take this course, but you can get the same legal benefits from taking a course that costs 1/3 the price.

YD is an expensive driver's ed course. Cheaper ones give the same insurance benefits.

I suspect the kids where 'forced' to go to it by their parents, as opposed to the adults who did it by their own choice. Hence the attitude difference.

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Last edited by JHVH : 10-29-4004 BC at 09:00 PM. Reason: Time for a rest.

animosity

well being 20 myself I can say that you are right... for the most part teenagers are just looking for something to complain about. They are new to driving(amongst other things) and dont think the rules apply to them. I cant say that I wasnt careless when I first got my licence, but I was never rude or disruptive in driving school that I had to attend several times.

driving school was very informative. A lot of it I knew already but somethings were very helpful. I learned that if you drink water with straight alcohol you get drunk faster.